Like in every big city, one of the Christmas season treats is to see the town's Christmas lights. Barcelona's were beautiful and would have made Toulouse jealous. However it wasn't only the lights that caught our eyes. First of all we came across some odd characters that seemed to attempt to rob houses. Characters we also found in the South of France. I don't know about you, but I'm not crazy about it. I'd rather see a pretty Christmas tree peaking through the window. Although the Three Kings did make me laugh more than Santa.
Sur la place Jaume et donc juste devant le Palacio de la Generalitat il y avait une grande crèche au travers de laquelle on pouvait marcher. Jusque la c'est une tradition connue.
On the plaza Jaume and therefore right in front of the Palace of the Generalitat, there is a large size nativity that one can walk through. It looks pretty typical.
Until you walk on the other side of the nativity and come upon that:
At first we thought it was a joke. Except that once in the Christmas Market in front of the Cathedral, we found more, and all around the stores too. It's call the Caganer. It's a Catalan tradition that seems to date back to the 17th or 18th century. The meaning seems to have been lost however. Some say it's humor, other that it's to nourrish the earth, some that it's a tradition prior to war and other say the Caganer is a symbol of equality. After all we all need to defecate. It is usually in the traditional outfit but can be found in all sorts of version from the (European) football player to the American president or any kind of traditional characters.
The Nativities are in fact quite stunning. Here is one found in a pastry shop. If I understood correctly the cork represents the rocks, the mountains; the moss is grass. Many characters take place in the nativity which is in fact more of a village. Can you spot the cagner?
Très lie au caganer il y a le Tio de Nadal ou Buche de Noël. A l'origine la buche n’était pas décorée comme on la voit aujourd'hui. Quel rapport avec le Caganer? Et bien la buche chie elle aussi. Mais des douceurs par contre... La tradition est de l'avoir près du feu, de la nourrir tous les soir et quand viens Noel de taper dessus avec un bâton en chantant une chanson.
Linked to the caganer is the Tio de Nadal or Christmas Log. Originally the log wasn't decorated like it is today. What's the link with the Caganer? Well it defecates as well. Except that it produces sweets... The tradition is to have it by the fire, feed it every night and when comes Christmas to hit it with a stick singing a little song.
no caguis arangades -no cagues arenques-
que són massa salades -que son demasiado salados-
caga torrons -caga turrones-
que són més bons -que son más buenos-
Caga tió -caga tió-
ametlles i torró -almendras y turrón-
si no vols cagar -si no quieres cagar-
et donaré un cop de bastó -te daré un golpe de bastón- Caga tió!
Chir Buche/ Des amandes et du turron/ Ne chie pas du hareng/ Qui est trop sale/ Chie du Turron /Qui est bien plus bon. / Chie Buche /Almonds and Turron/ Si tu ne veux pas chier/ Je te donnerais un coup de baton
Chie buche
Shit log, / Almonds and Turron /don't shit herrings, /which are too salty, /shit turron /which is much better!/ Shit log, /Almonds and Turron/ If you don't want to shit/ I'll hit you with a stick,/ shit log!
Heureusement
There is even a giant log on the plaza to teach the tradition to the kids. We brought back a tiny version as a souvenir.
Thankfully traditions don't stop here. One of my favorites was the Chocolate Con Churros taking at the same time as the Spanish families did their Christmas shopping. The chocolate was as thick as a cream in which one dips the doughnuts.
I also found inspiration when it comes to Christmas Trees. Why not a pillow tree next year?
Or a Christmas net?
Pour finir, alors que nous nous apprêtions a prendre le train pour quitter Barcelone, nous avons trouve le Père Noël! Il vit a Barcelone et prends même le métro!
In the end, as we were about to take the train to leave Barcelona, we came across Santa Claus! He lives in Barcelona and even takes the metro!